Listeria and other unsanitary conditions were found at a Whole Foods plant in Massachusetts earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration revealed in a warning letter telling the grocery store chain to take immediate action to fix the issues. [More]
food safety
Inspector General: FDA Still Takes Too Long To Recall Tainted Food Products
By 6.9.16
Five years ago, the Food Safety Modernization Act granted the Food and Drug Administration the statutory authority to compel food producers to recall tainted products. However, a new report from a federal investigator shows that people are falling ill while the FDA sometimes takes months to issue recalls, even after it has evidence of contamination. [More]
New Legislation Tries To Clear Up Confusion Over “Sell By,” “Best By” & Other Expiration Dates
By 5.17.16
Stroll around your favorite supermarket and you’ll see a cornucopia of deadlines stamped and printed on your food. That carton of milk says “Sell By,” the box of mac and cheese says “Best Before,” and the jar of horseradish has a “Use By,” none of which are official or necessarily an indicator of safety or quality, resulting in millions of pounds of food being wasted every year based on sometimes arbitrary dates. New legislation coming this week in both the House and Senate hopes to clear up the confusion over the many expiration date labels you find on food. [More]
Pilgrim’s Pride Expands Recall Of Contaminated Chicken Products
By 5.9.16
If you’ve already checked the list of products affected by a recent Pilgrim’s Pride recall involving chicken items possibly contaminated with bits of plastic, metal, wood, and rubber, you might want to check it again. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety & Inspection service has expanded the nearly five million-pound recall list to include additional products. Check the full list here. [More]
CRF Frozen Foods Recalls Everything Processed At WA Plant Since May 2014 Due To Possible Listeria
By 5.3.16
Last week, we learned that vegetables produced by CRF Frozen foods and sold under national and store brands had been recalled due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, a dangerous foodborne pathogen. The company expanded the recall to include all frozen fruits and vegetables processed at its plant in Pasco, WA since May of 2014. That includes 358 different varieties of frozen fruits and veggies sold under 42 brand names sold in all 50 states. It’s a lot of food. [More]
Chipotle To Expand Chorizo, Consider Loyalty Program To Bring In New And ‘Lapsed’ Customers
By 4.27.16
Last year, Chipotle’s food-safety crisis led the burrito eatery’s business to plummet, with same-store sales plunging as low as 37% in December 2015. In 2016, though, there have been no reported outbreaks, and the company has been mailing and texting out coupons to draw old and new customers. The massive giveaways of food are now over, and the chain is moving on to new promotional methods, including buy one, get one free entrées and potentially a loyalty program. [More]
CDC Says Salmonella Outbreak In Cucumbers That Began In August Is Finally Over
By 3.22.16
The Salmonella Poona outbreak that started last year in cucumbers imported from Mexico caused 907 known illnesses in 40 states, sent at least 204 people to the hospital, and caused four known deaths. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has finally declared the outbreak to be over, concluding that they couldn’t find how the cucumbers became contaminated in the first place. [More]
Health Authorities: Raw Milk From PA Dairy Linked To Fatal Case Of Listeriosis
By 3.21.16
While you can’t just buy raw milk anywhere, there are some ways consumers can get their hands on the product, nonetheless, despite warnings from health officials that the unpasteurized product can carry dangerous bacteria. That risk proved fatal in one of two recent listeriosis cases that health authorities say are linked to a Pennsylvania dairy. [More]
USDA Investigating Possible Plastic Sabotage At Poultry Processing Plant
By 3.11.16
While it’s not uncommon to hear about chicken products that end up containing wayward bits of plastic (like this nugget issue, this sausage situation, and yet another nugget problem), federal officials are on the case of an incident at a poultry processing line in Missouri that might be a case of deliberate sabotage, instead of a run-of-the-mill accident. [More]
Starbucks Sausage, Egg & Cheese Muffin Recalled For Listeria Concerns
By 3.7.16
A company that makes Starbucks’ pre-packaged Sausage, Egg, and Cheddar Cheese on English Muffin has issued a recalled for the breakfast sandwich over concerns that they may be contaminated with Listeria. [More]
Mars Recalling Candy In 55 Countries Because Eating Plastic Isn’t So Sweet
By 2.23.16
U.S. candy maker Mars has issued a recall in 55 countries over concerns that some candy bars and other sweet treats might contain an ingredient that isn’t nutty, nougaty, chocolatey, or otherwise delicious: plastic bits. [More]
New Chipotle Food Safety Procedures Include Shutting Down Restaurant If Anyone Barfs
By 2.9.16
Yesterday, Chipotle restaurants didn’t open until 3 PM so 50,000 or so restaurant employees could sit in hotel conference rooms or movie theaters to watch a live-streamed company-wide meeting about food safety. The future of the chain is at stake, and their task is to prove to the public that they’re not trying to make us all sick. [More]
Federal Government Rolls Up Another Subpoena, Serves It To Chipotle
By 2.2.16
While the good news for Chipotle is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have closed their investigation into the burrito eatery’s multi-state E. coli oubreak, late last week the company was served with a federal subpoena demanding more information about an earlier outbreak of norovirus in California that sickened 200 people. [More]
CDC Reportedly Set To Close Book On Chipotle’s 9-State E. Coli Outbreak
By 2.1.16
While federal investigators have yet to pinpoint the cause of an E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 50 Chipotle customers in nine different states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to announced today that the outbreak has come to an end. [More]
Whole Foods Recalling Frozen Pork Pepperoni Pizzas For Masquerading As Beef Pepperoni Pizzas In New England
By 1.26.16
Labels are very important when it comes to food, considering most of us do not have X-ray vision that allows us to scan products with our eyes and know exactly what ingredients those items contain. That’s why Whole Foods is recalling a bunch of frozen pizzas on the East Coast: some pies labeled as containing “uncured beef pepperoni” are actually covered in pork pepperoni. [More]
Chipotle Customers File Lawsuit Claiming Company Tried To Cover Up California Norovirus Outbreak
By 1.20.16
It’s a new year, but that doesn’t mean Chipotle is going to be able to start fresh after the spate of outbreaks at its restaurants last year. Seven customers have filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court yesterday claiming that the chain tried to sweep a norovirus outbreak that sickened 234 people who’d eaten at a Simi Valley, CA location under the rug. [More]
Chipotle To Give Employees Paid Sick Leave So They Don’t Make Customers Ill
By 1.19.16
Today Chipotle released more information on what exactly it’ll be discussing with employees when the chain shuts down all locations for a few hours on Feb. 8 to discuss the E. Coli and Norovirus outbreaks that hit the chain in 2015. Along with previously announced new food safety protocols, Chipotle says it will offer paid sick leave so that employees who are ill don’t have an incentive to show up to work, thus avoiding the risk of making customers sick as well. [More]
Waffle House Fires Workers Caught On Camera Running A Kitchen Hair Salon
By 1.13.16
There are a few businesses where customers might expect to witness employees performing grooming rituals, of course. But because a restaurant is definitely not a salon, two Arkansas Waffle House workers were fired after customers filmed them doing stuff with hair in the kitchen. [More]
